Cleansing-lustering agent

ABSTRACT

A method for cleansing and lustering a surface comprises spraying on the surface a cleansing-lustering agent essentially consisting of lanolin and an O/W emulsion composed of an emulsifying agent, a silicone oil and water thereby depositing a foamed mass of the cleansing-lustering agent on said surface and allowing the foamed mass to defoam spontaneously after a prescribed period of standing and cleanse the surface. A foaming cleansing-lustering agent is disclosed which essentially consists of lanolin and an O/W emulsion composed of an emulsifying agent, a silicone oil and water.

This is a Division of application Ser. No. 08/171,155 filed on Dec. 22,1993.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a cleansing-lustering method and acleansing-lustering agent for working the method. More particularly,this invention relates to a method for foaming a cleansing-lusteringagent on the surface of tires such as of automobiles and bicyclesthereby cleansing the tires of dirt and, at the same time, impartingluster thereto, a method for controlling the period of the foamed stateof the agent, and a cleansing-lustering agent for working the method.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Generally, a dirty automobile tire is cleansed of dirt by first brushingand washing the tire with water thereby ridding the tire of dust, mud,etc., then spraying a spray type lustering agent on the tire, andfinally wiping the sprayed lustering agent off the tire as with a towel.

Methods of this sort are disadvantageous because the brushing action mayscratch the coating of an aluminum wheel used with the tire. The spraytype cleansing-lustering agents heretofore known to the art are those ofthe solvent type produced by dissolving silicone oil in petroleum typesolvents and chlorine type solvents and those of the O/W emulsion typeproduced by emulsifying silicone oil with water. The solvent type agentsfeature a quick-drying property but have the drawback of causing therubber of the tire to swell. Further, on account of the use of avolatile solvent, these agents may adversely affect the health ofworkers handling the agents.

The O/W emulsion type cleansing-lustering agents, though having noadverse effect on tires, have the disadvantage that the foam of thesprayed agent does not easily vanish and, therefore, must be wiped offthe surface as with a towel.

Now, examples of the cleansing agents well known in the art will bedescribed below.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,110 discloses a composition of the type intended asa cleansing agent and adapted from the beginning to produce no foam.U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,739 discloses a composition as a cleansing agent. Itcontains no mention anywhere of the condition of foaming and defoamingof this composition prepared in the form of an aerosol. U.S. Pat. No.4,374,745 discloses a composition as a cleansing agent and makes nomention anywhere of the state of foam to be produced when thecomposition is prepared in the form of an aerosol. This composition,when prepared in the form of gel or in a thixotropic form, does not foamafter the fashion of an aerosol. U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,125 discloses acomposition as a cleansing agent. Though this composition uses adefoaming agent, the defoaming agent is used therein solely for thepurpose of eliminating the inconvenience of foam to be otherwiseencountered during the manufacture or use of the composition. This U.S.patent, therefore, contains no mention anywhere of any foam in the formof aerosol. The four U.S. patents mentioned above aim to prevent therelevant compositions from foaming by the incorporation of a foamadjusting agent.

The present inventors formerly disclosed their inventions concerning O/Wemulsion type cleansing agents in Japanese Patent Public Disclosure SHO63 (1988)-51499 and SHO 64 (1989)-11175 and further secured grant ofU.S. Pat. No. 4,880,557 on their U.S. patent application claimingConvention priority on Japanese Patent Public Disclosure SHO 63(1988)-51499 (Japanese Patent Application SHO 61 (1986)-194038). Theseinventions all relate to methods based on a procedure which comprisesspraying a cleansing agent on a given surface to be cleaned, allowingthe agent deposited on the surface to foam and then spontaneously defoaminto a liquid state, and permitting the liquid to flow down the surfacewhile cleansing and lustering the surface.

There is, however, a need to adjust the foam retention time in thisprocess, particularly to shorten the time required for the cleansing andlustering.

The present inventors therefore made a study with a view to developing acleansing-lustering agent and a cleansing-lustering method capable ofresponding to this need. They have consequently accomplished thisinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To be specific, this invention relates to a method for cleansing andlustering a given surface by spraying on the surface acleansing-lustering agent essentially consisting of lanolin and an O/Wemulsion composed of an emulsifying agent, a silicone oil and waterthereby depositing a foamed mass of the cleansing-lustering agent on thesurface and, after a fixed period of standing thereof, enabling thefoamed mass to defoam and cleanse and luster the surface, and a foamingcleansing-lustering agent essentially consisting of lanolin and an O/Wemulsion composed of an emulsifying agent, a silicone oil and water andused for working the method mentioned above. The method is characterizedby the ability of the cleansing-lustering agent used therein to allowthe period of deposition of the foamed mass thereof (the foam retentionperiod) to be controlled by adjusting the lanolin content of thecleansing-lustering agent. None of the other cleansing-lustering agentshas this ability.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The silicone oils which are effectively usable in this invention includenot only ordinary dimethyl silicone oil but also phenylmethyl siliconeoil, alkyl-modified silicone oils, and amino-modified silicone oils, forexample.

Such a silicone oil is used in an emulsified form. As an emulsifyingagent for emulsifying the silicone oil, an anionic or nonionicsurfactant is used. As particularly desirable examples of theemulsifying agent, alkylbenzene sulfonates, polyoxy ethylene alkylphenylethers, and polyoxy ethylene alkyl ethers may be cited.

The cleansing-lustering agent according to this invention has an O/Wemulsion which is formed by mixing a silicone oil with an emulsifyingagent and water.

This cleansing-lustering agent is characterized by the fact that thisemulsion incorporates lanolin therein as an additive.

Now, the cleansing-lustering agent according to the present inventionwill be described below.

The O/W emulsion is only required to possess an ability to cleanse andluster a surface. The present invention does not particularly specifythe composition of the O/W emulsion.

The lanolin added to the O/W emulsion is produced by separating thefatty secretion adhering to wool as with soap or solvent and refiningthe separated secretion. Chemically, it is the ester of a complicatedfatty acid with a monohydric higher alcohol.

Either crude lanolin or purified lanolin can be effectively used in thisinvention. When the crude lanolin used has not been sufficientlypurified, its color and odor degrade, its commercial value. Thus, it isdesirable to use refined lanolin which is free from the odor and color.

In this invention, the cleansing-lustering agent is charged into apressure container together with a propellant and then is sprayed fromthe pressure container on a given object. In other words, thecleansing-lustering agent coexists with the propellant under pressure.Liquefied petroleum gas, dimethyl ether, nitrogen gas, etc. arepractically suitable as the propellant. The lanolin in the emulsifiedform coexists stably with the propellant. When the cleansing-lusteringagent is discharged from the pressure container toward the surface of agiven object, the emulsion is foamed and deposited on the surface by theforce of dispersion of the spray gas. The emulsion thus deposited on thesurface remains in the foamed state for a while after the deposition onthe surface. Then, it gradually vanishes and liquefies and consequentlyabsorbs the defiling substances on the surface. Meanwhile, part of thesilicone oil lands on the surface and then spontaneously flows down thesurface and simultaneously lusters it. When the lanolin content of thecleansing-lustering agent is adjusted properly, the period of durationof the foamed state can be controlled to maintain or even improve theeffect of cleansing and lustering. Actually, the adjustment of thelanolin content results in curtailing the duration of the foamed state.Specifically, the duration of the foamed state which is at least threeminutes and normally about five minutes when the lanolin content is zerocan be decreased to approximately the range of 5 to 120 seconds when thecleansing-lustering agent has a properly adjusted lanolin content.

The lanolin brings about the effect mentioned above because it givesrise to highly stable emulsification in the aerosol.

The amount of lanolin incorporated in the cleansing-lustering agent ofthis invention is in the range of 1 to 40% by weight, based on the totalamount of the silicone oil and the emulsifying agent which togethercompose the emulsion. If the amount of lanolin added is less than thelower limit of the range specified above, the added lanolin manifests nodiscernible effect. Conversely, if the amount exceeds the upper limit ofthe range, the duration of the foamed state is extremely short and thecleansing-lustering agent therefore does not produce a sufficientcleansing effect and tends to make the treated surface sticky. From thepractical point of view, it is particularly preferable for the lanolincontent to be in the range of 5 to 25% by weight.

In the method of this invention, the composition of the O/W emulsion inthe cleansing-lustering agent is not particularly specified.Practically, however, it is preferably composed of 5 to 60% by weight ofsilicone oil, 0.5 to 10% by weight of an emulsifying agent, and thebalance of water. More preferably, the O/W emulsion has a silicone oilcontent in the range of 10 to 25% by weight and an emulsifying agentcontent in the range of 5 to 10% by weight.

Though the ratio of the O/W emulsion to the propellant is notparticularly defined, it is practically desirable to set the volumetricratio of the O/W emulsion (containing lanolin) to the propellant in therange of 95:5 to 70:30.

This invention will now be described with reference to working examplesand comparative experiments.

EXAMPLE 1

A cleansing-lustering agent of the following formula:

    ______________________________________                                        Dimethyl silicone oil (1000 C/S) (produced                                                           20.0% by weight                                        by Toray Silicone Co., Ltd. and marketed                                      under the tradename "Toray Silicone")                                         Polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether                                                                     5.0% by weight                                        (produced by Dai-ichi Seiyaku Kogyo Co.,                                      Ltd. and marketed under the tradename                                         "Neugen EA-140")                                                              Lanolin                 1.0% by weight                                        Water                  Balance                                                ______________________________________                                    

and LPG in respective amounts accounting for a volumetric ratio of 90:10were together charged into a spray can under a pressure of 3.5 kg/cm².

Then, the content of the spray can was sprayed for 10 seconds on a tiresmeared with earth as the defiling substance to be removed. The surfaceof the tire was covered with the foam which was produced in consequenceof the spray. The foam remained intact for two minutes and thenvanished. The liquid which was consequently formed flowed down thesurface of the tire.

The tire surface was thoroughly cleaned of the earth and, at the sametime, was lustered. The composition of the cleansing-lustering agentused herein and the results of the use of this cleansing-lustering agentas a spray are shown in Table 1.

EXAMPLES 2 TO 4

Cleansing-lustering agents of the following compositions:

    ______________________________________                                        Dimethyl silicone oil (1000 C/S) (produced                                                           20.0% by weight                                        by Toray Silicone Co., Ltd. and marketed                                      under the tradename "Toray Silicone")                                         Polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether                                                                     5.0% by weight                                        (produced by Dai-ichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co.,                                      Ltd. and marketed under the tradename                                         "Neugen EA-140")                                                              Lanolin in Example 2    2.0% by weight                                        Lanolin in Example 3    5.0% by weight                                        Lanolin in Example 4   10.0% by weight                                        Water                  Balance                                                ______________________________________                                    

were treated by following the procedure of Example 1. The compositionsof the cleansing-lustering agents, the duration of the foamed state, andthe cleansing and lustering effects are shown in Table 1.

The results clearly indicate that the effect of reducing the period ofduration of the foamed state increased in proportion as the lanolincontent of the agent increased.

EXAMPLES 5 TO 7

Cleansing-lustering agents of the following compositions:

    ______________________________________                                        Dimethyl silicone oil (produced by Toray                                                             20.0% by weight                                        Silicone Co., Ltd. and marketed under the                                     tradename "Toray Silicone")                                                   (where the viscosity in Example 5 was 100                                     C/S, that in Example 6 was 5000, and that                                     in Example 7 was 10000 C/S.)                                                  Polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether                                                                     5.0% by weight                                        (produced by Dai-ichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co.,                                      Ltd. and marketed under the tradename                                         "Neugen EA-140")                                                              Lanolin                 5.0% by weight                                        Water                  Balance                                                ______________________________________                                    

were treated by following the procedure of Example 1. The compositionsof the cleansing-lustering agents, the duration of the foamed state, andthe cleansing-lustering agent are shown in Table 1.

The results indicate that the period of duration of the foamed stateshorten discernibly, though slightly, in proportion as the viscosity ofsilicone oil increased.

EXAMPLES 8 TO 10

Cleansing-lustering agents of the following compositions:

    ______________________________________                                        Dimethyl silicone oil (1000 C/S) (produced                                                           20.0% by weight                                        bby Toray Silicone Co., Ltd. and marketed                                     under the tradename "Toray Silicone")                                         Polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether                                                                     5.0% by weight                                        (produced by Dai-ichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co.,                                      Ltd. and marketed under the tradename                                         "Neugen ET-135")                                                              Lanolin in Example 8    2.0% by weight                                        Lanolin in Example 9    5.0% by weight                                        Lanolin in Example 10  10.0% by weight                                        Water                  Balance                                                ______________________________________                                    

were treated by following the procedure of Example 1. The compositionsof the cleansing-lustering agents, the duration of the foamed state, andthe cleansing-lustering effects are shown in Table 1.

The results clearly indicate that the effect of reducing the period ofduration of the foamed state increased in proportion as the lanolincontent increased.

COMPARATIVE EXPERIMENT 1

The procedures of Examples 1 to 4 were repeated, except that the use oflanolin was omitted. The compositions of the cleansing-lustering agentsand the results of use of the agents are shown in Table 1, along withthose of the working examples.

COMPARATIVE EXPERIMENT 2

The procedure of Examples 8 to 10 were repeated, except that the use oflanolin was omitted. The compositions of the cleansing-lustering agentsand the results of use of the agents are shown in Table 1, along withthose of the working examples.

                                      TABLE 1                                     __________________________________________________________________________                                                           Comparative                                     Example                       Experiment                                      1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 1   2                  __________________________________________________________________________    Silicone                                                                             Dimethyl silicone oil                                                                           0  20 20 20          20 20 20 20  20                 oil    1000 C/S (wt %)                                                               Dimethyl silicone oil         20                                              100 C/S (wt %)                                                                Dimethyl silicone oil            20                                           5000 C/S (wt %)                                                               Dimethyl silicone oil               20                                        10000 C/S (wt %)                                                       Emulsifying                                                                          Polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl                                                                     5  5  5  5  5  5  5           5                      agent  ether (wt %)                                                                  Poloxyehtylene alkyl ether (wt %)      5  5  5      5                  Lanolin                                                                              (wt %)               2  5  10 5  5  5  2  5  10                               (wt % based on total amount of                                                                  4  8  20 40 20 20 20 8  20 40                               silicone oil and emulsifying agent)                                    Water  (Bal = balance)   Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal Bal                Spraying                                                                             Duration fo foamed state (sec.)                                                                 120                                                                              60 30 5  40 25 20 60 30 5  >180                                                                              >180               effect Cleansing property                                                                              ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    Δ                                                                          ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    Δ                                                                          ∘                                                                     ∘             Luster            ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                     ∘             Unevenness of finish                                                                            Δ                                                                          ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    ∘                                                                    X   X                  __________________________________________________________________________     The cleaning property and the luster were visually evaluated and rated on     a threepoint scale, wherein ∘ stands for good, Δ for        rather good, and X for bad. The unevenness of finish was evaluated in         terms of the ratio of wet surface to the whole tire surface and rated on      threepoint scale, wherein ∘ stands for not less than 90%,         Δ for not less than 85% but less than 90%, and X for less than 85%.

EXAMPLES 11 TO 17

Cleansing-lustering agents were produced by following the procedure ofExample 1, except that the composition of the agent were varied as shownin Table 2. The produced agents were used to clean a tire smeared withearth. The results are shown in Table 2.

COMPARATIVE EXPERIMENTS 3 TO 7

Cleansing agents were produced by following the procedure of ComparativeExperiment 1, except that the composition of the agent were varied asshown in Table 2. The produced agents were used to clean a tire smearedwith earth. The results are shown in Table 2.

                                      TABLE 2                                     __________________________________________________________________________                                                       Comparative                                           Example                 Experiment                                            11 12 13 14 15 16 17 3  4  5  6  7                 __________________________________________________________________________    Silicone                                                                            Dimethyl silicone coil 1000 C/S (wt %)                                                                         20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                oil   Alkyl-modified silicone oil                                                                        20                                                       (Toray SH 203) (wt %)                                                         Amino-modified silicone oil                                                                           20                                                    (Tray SP 8417) (wt %)                                                         Carboxy-modified silicone oil                                                                            20                                                 (Toray SP 8418) (wt %)                                                        Alcohol-modified silicone oil 20                                              (Toray SF 8427) (wt %)                                                  Emulsi-                                                                             Polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether (wt %)                                                           5  5  5  5           5  5                          fying Alkylbenzene sulfonic acid       5              5                       agent triethanol amine (wt %)                                                       Sodium di-2-ethylhexyl sulfosuccinate                                                                             5              5                          (wt %)                                                                        Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolate (wt %)                                                                             5              5                 Lanolin                                                                             (wt %)               5  5  5  5  5  5  5                                      Wt % based on total amount of                                                                      20 20 20 20 20 20 20                                     silicone oil and emulsifying agent                                      Cattle                                          5                             tallow                                                                        Lard                                               5                          Water (Bal = Ballance)     Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal                                                                              Bal               __________________________________________________________________________

The results of the working examples and comparative experiments showthat a foaming cleansing-lustering agent using as an active componentthereof a silicone oil incorporating lanolin therein, when sprayed on agiven surface for cleaning, manifests an improved cleansing andlustering effect on the surface and, at the same time, permits thefoamed state of the sprayed agent to be controlled and curtails theperiod of the foamed state by adjusting the composition of the agent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A foaming cleansing-lustering agent consistingessentially of lanolin and an oil-in-water emulsion which is a mixtureof an emulsifying agent, a silicone oil and water, wherein the amount ofsaid lanolin is in the range of 1 to 40% by weight based on the totalamount of said emulsifying agent and said silicone oil, and the amountof said silicone oil is in the range of 5 to 60% by weight based on thetotal amount of said emulsifying agent, said silicone oil and saidwater.
 2. A foaming cleansing-lustering agent according to claim 1,consisting of said lanolin and said oil-in-water emulsion.
 3. A foamingcleansing-lustering agent according to claim 1, wherein the amount oflanolin is in the range of 5 to 25% by weight based on the total amountof said emulsifying agent and said silicone oil.
 4. A foamingcleansing-lustering agent according to claim 1, wherein said emulsifyingagent is at least one member selected from the group consisting ofanionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants.
 5. A foamingcleansing-lustering agent according to claim 4, wherein said surfactantis at least one member selected from the group consisting ofalkylbenzene sulfonates, polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ethers, andpolyoxyethylene alkyl ethers.
 6. A foaming cleansing-lustering agentaccording to claim 1, wherein said silicone oil is at least one memberselected from the group consisting of dimethyl silicone oil,phenylmethyl silicone oil, alkyl-modified silicone oil, andamino-modified silicone oil.
 7. A foaming cleansing-lustering agentaccording to claim 6, wherein said silicone oil is dimethyl siliconeoil.